Titan Pride
by I am not a magical bear
Summary: This is my first fanfic, it is a Conner/OMC pairing, a high school AU, and I really hope you like it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fanfiction. Do not judge too harshly if it is horrible, but please tell me how I can improve. I am making OC's the pain characters with some Teen Titans thrown in as well. Please review.**

Titan Pride 1  
With my celebrity, as my new stage name Taylor Pratt, I was hard to ignore. I was known widely as the writer of Rihanna's biggest hit ever, Worst Of Us,resulting in her Super Bowl Halftime Show, along with Demi Lovato's smash hit Humor. My own music has produced a number one album, a number three album, and five top ten singles such as All U Want, Visible, Hanging, Monkey Boy and a duet with my idol Avril Lavigne on the biggest hit of my career, the inspirational ballad Pen And Paper. But what people don't know is the story of how I was discovered, how I rose above my struggles, and how I found the love of my life all in high school. Now, I am 21, looking back on how the worst year of my life became the best. This is mostly from my point of view, with some additional details from my friends Cassandra Allen, Megan Koss-Smith, and Leo Polk, my manager. Even some from other celebs like Rebecca Reinstein, Broadway legend and Conner Kent, football star and part of my life that you will figure out.  
"Bbbbbbbrrrrrriiiing!"  
The first bell rang as the students settled into their first block of the day. For me, A Block Math with Ms. Bastien. I smiled happily since I had a feeling this day would go well, and could see that my friends Becca and Ethan had the same feeling. For some reason, today felt different. Like something important was going to happen. I didn't really know what it would be, though. Maybe a boy...? Nah. If I had learned anything from last year's Leo fiasco, it was that there was little likelihood that I would attract any guys.  
Before I do anything else, I might as well tell you about myself. My name is Henry Walsh, and I go to Isaac Newton High in South, Massachusetts. Our mascot is the Titans, as in the Greek kind, and we have a different Titan for each sport. Basketball has Hyperion, baseball has Mnemosyne, swimming has Oceanus, and football has Kronos. I am an insanely tall person, according to my friends. A sophomore in high school, I am six foot four with more growth coming. I have blond hair, Irish skin, and piercing blue-gray eyes, or so people tell me. I always have on my lucky leather jacket, along with a carefully coordinated outfit otherwise. Today, I am wearing a black v-neck with a light blue shirt underneath and my usual blue jeans.  
Ms. Bastien stood up, and as we opened our notebooks, she motioned for us to stop. She said, "Not yet. We have some business to take care of first. Firstly, we have new students in the class. Meet Megan."  
A bubbly redhead skipped into the room happily, seeming to be the happiest person, but I had a feeling she was the happiest person in any room she went into. Her obviously Irish pale skin was easily complimented by her white shirt, red belt lighter than her hair, and blue skirt. She had one of the widest, most sincere smiles he had ever seen, and she seemed like a good person to become friends with. He filed that for later, as Ms. Bastien was introducing another new arrival.  
"Also joining us, from the same previous school, is Rose."  
Rose was a lot more intense. She had shockingly white hair that didn't look dyed, but by her only visible eye, it was obvious she wasn't albino. She was not nearly as smiley, and her intense glare pierced the room in a way that made it obvious she planned on ruling the school by next week. She was wearing very tight blue jeans, a leather jacket, a blue shirt with an orange sword design on it, and a belt that matched the orange. She had a gray eye patch covering her left eye, which he immediately wanted to ask about but knew he shouldn't ask. I decided to try and pay attention in class, so maybe less attentive to the next arrival if there was one.  
There was, but it was impossible not to pay him a lot of attention.  
His name, apparently, was Conner, and there was no other way to describe him other than teenage god. His straight black hair was in an effortless short style that made him absolutely gorgeous, he had the hopeful eyes and honesty of a Midwestern boy, maybe Kansas? Either way, he was sexy in his blue jeans and Superman T-shirt, and all I could think about was him. When I realized where one of the empty seats was, I brightened considerably. About a month ago, Framelcy had moved, and that meant there was a seat between me and the next person. Good timing, too, because they were just finding seats. I immediately pointed out the empty seat, and Conner was sat next to me, while Rose and Megan sat in the back. I extended my hand in greeting, and Conner shook it. His expression was warm and inviting, not a hint of hesitation in it. I might have just met the guy, but I could tell that at least I had fallen in love at first sight.  
I had so much to do that day. I barely paid any attention that class, instead staring at the back of Conner's neck. Throughout the entire class, I learned only one thing. Conner Kent has a disturbingly sexy neck. Luckily, the one time I was called on was for a fairly easy problem that was fairly easy to solve. Next, I had Spanish, which I was looking forward to if only for a break to clear my muddled head.  
When he got to Spanish, the teacher seemed brighter than usual. Was there some sort of happy bug going around? Oh well, I thought, why not just let it happen. That might mean less homework anyhow. Then, he realized why. Conner was asking her about seating arrangements. She said she had been planning the switch for today anyway, so why not do it with him added.  
"Alright, thanks." He was saying to her and he was turning around as I realized I had nowhere to hide so I just looked at him sheepishly. He grinned, obviously relieved to have someone he knew in the class. Apparently, Mrs. Wiener saw my expression and gave me a thumbs up. I had no clue what she meant, but hoped it turned out well. When everyone had sat down in their usual seats, which left Connor standing, Mrs. Wiener decided to put us in a new seating arrangement, with me on the other side of the room with Libby to my right and Conner to my left. No more staring at his neck, I suppose. However, this might give me the opportunity to actually talk with him for once. When the teacher paired us off into groups, I was assigned with Conner, so it was an easy thing to get a conversation going between us.  
"Hi. I'm Conner. In your math class, remember?"  
"Yeah. Of course. Did the three of you know each other back in San Francisco?"  
"Actually, there's more than three. Our school abruptly closed, and those who could had to move here, to the school with the closest curriculum to ours. There are ten of us. Those two, me, my friend Tim, Cassie Sandsmark, Bart Allen, Lorena Marquez, Jaime Reyes, and Tim's girlfriend Stephanie Brown. For most of us, the only reason we're here is that Tim made his Dad pay for the tuition of most of us. Cassie could afford it on her own, but we never offered. To be perfectly honest, she can be a bitch sometimes, but she means well, especially to her friends."  
He had no idea how much I remembered. I decided it was best to keep it that way, so I just nodded and moved on to the topic at hand.  
"Yup. So do you want to go first, or should I?"  
He seemed a little startled at that, like he had been expecting all students from Massachusetts to be mouthy and rude compared to people from Kansas or even San Francisco. He recovered quickly, though.  
"Nah. I'm no good at this language stuff. I barely know English, and I was born and raised in Kansas until a few years back."  
So I had been right. He was from Kansas. How on earth did I know that? It didn't really matter, since it was probably best if he didn't catch me staring. We were both in a mutually uneducable boat, but we seemed to be worth one A student when we combined our abilities, so we worked. I hated myself throughout the entire thing, wanting so badly to kiss those incredible looking lips. But I controlled myself, managing to refrain from doing anything too stupid. We had a fairly normal class after that. Well, normal is relative. My normal involves obliviously hot boys who are just ripe for staring at. It has ever since Leo, but I really try to forget that. Conner will definitely be a big help, probably without knowing, but I was really hoping not to have the same thing happen twice, so I worked hard to find his flaws. It got difficult after a while. When he bell rang, we walked out of class together.  
"So, where do you have your next class?" I asked him curiously, thinking it couldn't get any weirder.  
"It's something called Advisory, apparently. With Ms. Xiao?"  
"Seriously? I have that exact class next, too!" Now it was officially getting strange. Were the fates trying to tell us something, or was this just a scheduling error? Either way, I wasn't complaining. From the way a wide grin spread across his face, he was okay with it too.  
"Weird. Oh well. At least you can show me the ropes of this new school. Right? You don't mind, do you?" He seemed to be blushing. Blushing. I was making a guy blush. Oh. My. God. Heaven. I feel like jumping for joy right now but I don't. Instead, I decide to play it cool and try to have some semblance of normalcy.  
When we got to Advisory, and I introduced Conner to everyone, I saw Ido eyeing him appraisingly. I immediately stood a little closer to him, which he may or may not have noticed, but I then realized. I was jealous. Had he seen that? I suddenly heard the conversation taking place, where Ido was speaking.  
"...So why not join the football team?"  
"I don't really think so. I just don't think football is my sport."  
"Really? Not to be awkward or anything, but you definitely have the body for it." I chimed in, basically flirting without flirting, and I was very proud of myself for it. He immediately stiffened up, like I'd simultaneously kissed him and punched him, and I guess I sort of did, but without doing either thing. Ido looked confused, as did most of the others listening in, but Lizzy grabbed my arm and steered me away, out of the room. When Ms. Xiao looked up, Lizzy gave her that look girls give other girls that I can never imagine understanding. She got me in a private place, and immediately began interrogating.  
"What is happening with you two? I don't think Ido sees it yet, but you act almost like a couple."  
"What? I have only known him since today. Are we seriously acting likes that?"  
"Yes! He hasn't exactly noticed all your subtle flirting yet, and you haven't noticed his. Two oblivious people perfect for each other. Go for him! I am going to help you out as best I can."  
Ok. Lizzy saw my attraction to Conner. I am very afraid he sees it too. The bell rang, silencing the protests forming on my lips. Conner walked out of the room directly to me, obviously poised to ask me a question.  
"Hey, man. Do you know where Mr. Lee's English class is?"  
"Oh my god. This is getting kind of creepy. "  
"What? Did I do something wrong?" He looked scandalized and afraid for a second. A part of me felt pity for him, then realized why he had thought that.  
"No! I just have that class too, and that means you haven't had a class without me yet. I am not complaining, though. Hey, Ido!"  
"No, wait. Don't call him over."  
"Why not?" I replied.  
"He's just a little, I don't know, insistent. I don't really like him."  
Hmm. A weird reason, but why not believe him? It would keep him close to me.  
"Well, I only did it to tell him you were in our English class as well. Even if you disliked him, he obviously kind of liked you. Not romantically, I mean. A blind bat could see that you're straight."  
My test worked, and he did exactly what I expected him to. His mouth dropped into the cutest pout ever for a split second, and it was so cute that some part of me wanted to jump him right there and then. Luckily, I had somehow walked to English without noticing and he had just followed me, so we ended up being on time. I decided to sit anywhere but my usual table, and he followed. I saw my friend Kiki and immediately sat next to her, and as soon as I did, Conner came rushing over to my seat. He sat right next to me, maybe a little close but I did not mind one bit.  
Mr. Lee decided to start the class right away, he didn't even notice Conner at first.  
"Ok, class, today no notes will be needed. You are simply being treated to a PowerPoint of our next book, Romeo and Juliet. We will discuss the importance of the dominant themes in the text, and why they are important for us to be aware of. In later classes, there may or may not be some acting out of the scenes in the book."  
Mr. Lee being nice? Where had that come from? This day was turning out too good to be true. Was there some sort of conspiracy occurring? He finally noticed Conner just then, and was very surprised. He looked at him, confused.  
"What?"  
"What?" Conner replied.  
"Who are you?"  
"My name is Conner. I'm new."  
Mr. Lee went over to his computer and checked the dates.  
"Oh, that's today! Ok then, welcome Conner. Let's get started."  
The rest of the day went off without anything wrong happening, except until lunch. Conner and I had checked each other's schedules and found that we had every class together. Every. Single. One. Wow. So, obviously, we had lunch together. I led him to my usual table, with Abby, Leo, Ethan, Becca, and apparently Megan and Rose. It seemed like Megan had befriended Becca and Rose let her drag her to the table.  
Conner immediately picked out a seat that was next to another empty one. I could almost hear Abby squeal inwardly as I sat down enthusiastically. She immediately started the conversation.  
"So, Henry, who's your new friend...?"  
"His name is Conner, he is in literally all of my classes, and I think you all will like him." I responded with a slight, almost unreadable tone of warning. Abby understood and pulled me aside, using that same look Lizzy had used a few hours before.  
"Ok. I think he likes you. I know you like him. You had better ask him out within the week or," she finished louder, "I will disown you".  
"Wait, what? Disown him?" Conner looked very confused, as did Rose and Megan.  
Abby responded quickly. "We have a little joke running around ever since Ethan here compared our group to the family. Me and Leo are the parents, always doing the right thing or the old fashioned thing or both. Henry is the middle child, in need of more support and sometimes feeling invisible. Ethan is the jock older brother, who everybody goes to. Becca is the artsy youngest sibling and, despite a large size difference, Taylor is Henry's twin sister who was separated at birth and taken to a horse farm in Alabama. None of this is real, of course, except for the Alabama bit. She only came a month before you guys."  
"Did you follow any of that?" Conner asked Megan and Rose. Megan nodded excitedly, but Rose just shook her head in wonder. Ethan smiled at Becca happily, and Rose grinned knowingly while Megan just looked on innocently. I smiled at Conner and explained further.  
"So, we are very comfortable with each other. We rarely keep secrets, the last one that was kept was my homosexuality and that was changed when I came out on Facebook two months ago, just before Halloween. I almost went as a male version of Rose Tyler, but I decided not to go instead."  
Conner's interest was piqued as soon as I said I came out on Facebook, and the others noticed too. A new arrival, Noah, had heard what I said, and once again commended me.  
"That took a lot of courage, man. We're all proud of you for that, and extremely sorry about all the flak you got from Sasha."  
"Wait, who's Sasha?" Conner asked, the amount of questions he needed to ask piling up by the minute  
"Did someone say my name?" A voice said from behind him. I looked up and saw that Sasha, the bane of my high school existence, had come to our table. He was average height, but taller than all but me at our table. His brown hair, slightly plus-sized figure and evil smirk were all things I had come to hate. The worst part was, he used to be more hated than me. This year, he only had to join the football team and start picking on me to basically get top spot at this school, just underneath the dynasty that was Daniel and Katherine's crew.  
The others were very unwelcoming. Abby and Leo especially, since they had been there the most for my breakdown and bad times, including Sasha's torturing me.  
Abby lashed out at him. "What on earth makes you think you are welcome at this table? You tortured Henry, Taylor and Becca, tried to get with me, and insult us every chance you get. What gives?"  
"Well," Sasha replied, I thought I saw someone who would be a better fit with the jocks sitting at your table, with a fag, a bitch,a cripple, and some nobodies, so I thought he must have come to the wrong table. The jocks sit over with me, dude."  
"Are you trying to imply something?" Rose asked. "You think I'm ashamed of my handicap? Well here's a news flash for you, mister. I am who I am, and so is everyone else at this table. We have our own lives, so why not just go back to your way too behind country who was lucky to host the Olympics after what happened. You are far behind the times, my friend, so can you please just go away?"  
"Yeah," I chimed in, standing up next to her, "let us live our own lives, and if you have a problem just ignore us. Just because I'm gay doesn't give you the right to-"  
I was cut off, because Sasha had had enough. He punched me full on in the jaw, then right in the gut, when I was completely unprepared. Conner, enraged, rose up and retaliated, breaking his nose. Rose cheered, but the teacher nearby, Mr. Werrentery was not amused. He walked over angrily, and spoke to us.  
"Principal's office immediately, Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Kent, and Ms. Wilson. I don't want your excuses."  
Cornered, Sasha slumped his head, and the four of us grabbed our bags and went.


	2. The uneventful, yet very eventful

**A/N: Here is the second chapter. I am surprised I managed to get this far in the story. I am changing some names, like Noah is now James, and Ethan is now Michael. I know changing the OC names is a bit unusual, but it was encouraged by a friend. I hope you like the chapter! Please review.**

Titan Pride 2  
At the principals office, we had to sit and wait in silence for a very long time. It got me very nervous. The rest of the students there were stuck in an indignant silence. Sasha was probably because he was the instigator and he was the most likely to be in trouble. Rose was because, as I had learned early on in their friendship that day, she had needed anger management before and did not want to slip up again. Conner, I couldn't figure out. He kept glancing at me as if to make sure I wouldn't suddenly burst into flames. Finally, the principal called us in. We each sat down, Sasha putting some distance between us after a glare from Rose, and the principal began to talk. "Students," he said, "I am very disappointed with this display of violence in our school. I thought you were better than that. I thought wrong, obviously. Now. Who threw punches?"  
Conner and Sasha immediately looked twice as nervous as before. Conner slowly raised his hand, but Sasha kept his down. Rose and I immediately stepped in. "Oh, come on, Sasha! What the hell are you doing? You know that you not only threw the first punch, but you threw the only punch that wasn't in defense of anyone. Raise your hand!" Rose said, seemingly too angry to do anything but shout. After that, he shrugged and raised his hand, but defended himself.  
"You can't fault me for this, Principal. I was only doing it because he sinned first."  
"And how, exactly, did he sin?" The principal had a point, and was about to learn why.  
"Simple. He is a sinner. A homosexual. They cannot be allowed to corrupt this school."  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No you did not!" Rose burst. I stood up, and told her to calm down. "We'll only get into more trouble if you take this any further. Be calm." The principal had not changed expression at all when Sasha had spoken, as if he had been expecting that. He responded calmly, "I'm sorry if you feel that way, but this school, home of the winning Titans football team, wants to set a better example. Despite the overwhelming amount of homophobia in this town, we try to accept everyone at this school." I immediately felt better, knowing that the principal was defending me. Still, I knew that it wasn't going to change anything no matter how much I could hope. But suddenly, the two places he hit me, my nose and my stomach, hurt again. My stomach especially hurt horribly. I doubled over in pain, and Sasha sneered visibly, obviously glad that his enemy was getting what in his mind was justice. Conner leapt up, concerned, and grabbed my arm. Sasha snickered. "Lookie there. Another faggot trying hard to cover it up. Well, dude, it won't work if you keep flirting with Henhouse over there."  
That pushed Conner over the edge, and he looked like he wanted to murder him, but Rose immediately grabbed him and whispered something in his ear. I only caught a bit about "...Don't want to repeat last year...", "...Control it, dude. Do you want...". I was very curious as to what they were saying, but out of respect for them, and awareness of Sasha's presence, I kept quiet. They were eventually done, and sat down. The principal asked us standard questions, like how I felt, had this happened before, had I done anything else Sasha might have found offensive, that sort of thing. When he finally let us go, I fled to the Physics room ahead of Conner, not wanting to be questioned at all about the events. When I got there, I quietly waited for Conner, showed the teacher our pass, introduced him to the class, then silently sunk into my seat.  
I could not believe it was still happening. Ever since I had come out after my ordeal the last months, Sasha and his gang had tortured me. Thank god he was in none of my classes. The problem is, his cronies were. Bryan was in my Acting class, and Andy was in my history. Ever since I had posted my confession on Facebook, they had begun to torture me. Bryan would act out scenes that made fun of "homo's", talking about how they needed to get locked up. Andy once asked Mr. Davison not to teach Greece simply because homosexual behavior was okay there. He refused, of course, because not only did he see that I was in the room, but he knew I was gay. Mr. Davison is probably my favorite teacher, not only because he is very chill and lets us turn in work two days late, but he also is very accepting and if your excuse for anything is believable, he helps the best he can. I would never have made it through September without his help. But I mostly owe it to Taylor. When she first came to the school, I had just come out, and we were both bullied. Her for being the new kid, me for being gay. We quickly learned to stick together to make survival that much easier for the both of us. It definitely worked. It got easier, but it still is very, very hard.  
The only group that was more bullied than me was Abby and Deanna's Loki worshipping cult. I was in it for one meetings because I was unaware it wasn't actually the coverup used, the Marvel Comics Appreciation Club. By the end of the meeting, they had melted a statue of a pig and prayed for Loki to take them as "partners". Needless to say, I never went to another meeting. Abby and Deanna are actually really cool out of those meetings, though. I always feel comfortable to tell the truth when I'm around Abby, and she was one of the first to know I was gay. After only Leo, Robin, and my parents.  
My coming out story is actually pretty tame compared to my November. This past November, I kind of got depressed. Like, really depressed. Suicidal tendencies level depressed. It was bad. There was this crippling feeling of being invisible, and unloved, that I couldn't shake and ended up thinking the world wouldn't need me or miss me. I was considering jumping off a building, or slitting my own throat, or even just stepping in front of a car. I wrote a will, and texted a note to all my friends. It was known of by the next day by everyone. To be honest, it was one of the worst experiences of my life and I'm only 15. I had to go to a two-week therapy thing, and I met some really messed up people. There was this one girl who's dad told her to commit suicide, and she had substance abuse and alcohol and cutting problems. She put my problem in perspective, and I realized my life wasn't that bad. I'm still a little affected by the problem though.  
The rest of the day went by without anything else bad happening. Thank god I had neither history nor Acting that day. I would have gone to the Wicked auditions, but I decided to just go home. I couldn't deal with the stress of a musical on top of everything else this year. Once school was over, I immediately left nothing to chance. I really didn't feel like talking to any new person. I grabbed Zoe as soon as she got out, and requested my usual.  
"Hey. Can I kidnap you?"  
"Only temporarily. I have to get home to work on my homework and ideas on how to murder you." Early on in our friendship, we had established a mutual sense of cynical and nonsensical humor.  
"Alright. But just so you know, I have a bodyguard now."  
"Explain", she said, sounding confused and more than a little intrigued.  
"Well, there's this boy-"  
"Stop right there. You met someone? Who is he, what does he look like, how many classes do you have together, and do you like him a lot? Tell me everything. Now."  
"Whoa. Wow, is someone getting protective? Anyway, his name is Conner, he's new. He is in all of my classes, which I found strange but now find amazing. He has the cutest black hair and these blue eyes that one look tells you that you can trust him. He is packed, too. He has amazing muscles, like he's Superman in teenage form or something. So freaking cute. And he protected me from Sasha after he punched me today."  
"Wait, Sasha hit you? When?" Zoe replied, getting slightly angry. I realized I hadn't told her about the lunchroom incident.  
"Lunch. He went over to our table and tried to assimilate Conner into his clique. Then, he insulted me and when Rose stood up for me he punched me. Conner punched back, then the four of us were taken to the principal's office. Not fun."  
"Jeez." She responded, obviously not expecting that. The walk home after she found her house was uneventful.  
When I got home, I immediately ran to my room and texted Taylor. We hadn't had classes together that day, but we had the same lunch every other day of the week, as well as two classes that didn't meet Mondays, history and Acting. Yes, those. The only chances I have to see my best friend are in classes where I am bullied.  
I texted her a quick one. 'Talk to me. Now.'  
'What?' She sounded busy. Maybe another time...? No. I needed t talk to her as soon as possible, and now was the best time. If she said she needed to go, she could, but I had to tell her about the Conner and Sasha situation. It was very delicate, and she is always very easy to talk to.  
'Met a guy today...' True enough. I had met a guy. It wasn't anything romantic yet, but that didn't mean I couldn't dream.  
'WHAAAT? Tell me every detail NOW.'  
'Lol. Ok so he's in literally all of my classes, so you can meet him first period tomorrow.' I couldn't wait to introduce them. I was far more excited than I should have been, really. It was a reflection on how far I had fallen for Conner, and how much I always miss Taylor. It would also be interesting to see his acting abilities. That got me curious.  
'All? Really?'  
'Yep. All. Anyway, he's like an Adonis. He has amazing abs, sexy black hair, farm boy honesty, and a minor Kansas accent. His arms are perfect, and even his neck is disturbingly sexy. I mean, what?' All true. Almost like bragging, except about someone else. I kind of enjoyed it.  
'Whoa. Get that fast, because he sounds perfect for you. I mean, even I kinda want a piece of that, and we are practically siblings.'  
She was right, we were basically twins in everything but size. We had the same food taste, as in I was willing to trust her taste buds in everything. We both had a guilty pleasure of comic books, we both frequently needed Emergency Avril Parties, and we both fiercely defended our friends but rarely were able to defend ourselves.  
I decided to text back with 'Thanks, and yeah we are lol. Wanna have an Avril Party to discuss this?'  
'Sorry but I'm very busy at the moment. Only have another minute or so. Gotta convince my parents to not move back to Alabama. '  
'What? Get back to that. I do not want you to go!'  
'Ok, bye.'  
I could not believe that could happen. Alabama? No. I won't lose my best friend like that. We had only known each other about two months, but we had bonded like we had known each other for our whole lives. I could not let her move away from me. If I kept losing people, how long would it take before I lost myself?


	3. The hatred, the bruises and the friends

**A/N: Okay, so it's been a while since I posted the last chapter, so sorry about that. I hope this makes up for it. Also, I may have a non-Titans DC character added that you guys can choose, so inbox me if you want one added. Right now, I'm thinking Harley Quinn, Superman, or Vixen. Comment any more ideas and their roles in the story, and that would be very helpful. **

The worst part of this was that it wasn't the worst situation I had ever been in. It was close, though. Sasha's cronies, with Sasha himself being notably absent, had cornered me into, well, the corner. I was about to go to my first class, Acting, when they had seen me and ran after me. I had been cornered into the hallway of the arts, and they had started flinging insults. It would get worse from there. "Faggot!" "Homo!" They had started to hit me. I tried to defend myself but they had a massive numbers advantage and they were determined. I couldn't get away no matter how I tried. I was being battered all over my body, and I felt it. Every time a punch or kick landed, I could feel the hate almost as much as the pain. By the time one of them said something again, I could barely hear them. "You don't deserve to live. Get out of our school, and never come back. Maybe even give us a repeat of November, but this time try harder." They went back to hitting me.

My clothes were starting to tear, my blue Patagonia jacket, my black skinny jeans, etc. and my fedora was already torn to shreds. If they kept going, I was probably going to die. Or at least that's what I thought. I tried to cry for help or ask them to stop, but no words came out, I must have been too badly hurt.

"Are you people insane?" It was my acting teacher, Mrs. Shannon. She walked over to us, pulled them away from me, and checked my pulse. I tried to tell her I was okay, but she would have none of it. "So this was why you're late." She said calmly. "Well, I'd best take you back to the classroom. It is close enough to get you there, and I have a first aid kit. You'll be alright, don't worry."

As she helped me up, she glared at the cronies, and asked their names. The six of them ashamedly ran off, but she grabbed Bryan before he could. She immediately began yelling at him angrily. "Do you realize what you are doing? Bullying is illegal now, in case you forgot. It is extremely insensitive and I cannot believe you would hurt a classmate that badly. You are getting expelled for this, or worse!" She looked like she was ready to murder him. I know, because just minutes ago six people had given me the same look. Her threat was obviously not lost on him, either, as he agreed and followed her as she helped me to the Acting Classroom, where the students were whispering quietly in small groups.

I saw my friend Taylor Hutchison looking worried. She wore a green T-shirt with a horse on it, as I had suspected, along with a white jacket and green leggings. She was fairly short, but obviously well built. We were ironically on alternate sides of the height spectrum, but still we were described as twins. When she and the others in the class saw me, they immediately came rushing over, with Conner, Abby, Yuval, Taylor, and Noah looking especially concerned. I was touched by that, but then I saw a blonde girl in the back, hesitant. Conner simply said one word. "Cassie." I immediately understood and chose not to press the matter.

"What happened?" Conner said. I weakly raised my hand and pointed my finger at Bryan, glaring at him, and barely croaked out a few words. "Him...and...five...others...attacked..." I couldn't get any more words out and just lay there, in pain. But as Conner stood to give Bryan a pounding, I shook my head. The teacher quickly said, "It's already dealt with. He is under threat of expulsion, or worse. It will be fine." Conner was visibly calmed by this, and I weakly raised my eyebrow at Taylor. She smiled weakly, and I realized I must look really horrible. Mrs. Shannon started putting bandages on my cuts and bruises, in the worst areas, and I could feel it getting better. By the time acting was over, which for me consisted mostly of watching others act out their scenes, I was ready to move on. My group of Abby, Taylor and myself was excused due to my injuries and my crucial role in the scene we'd prepared. Conner had no group, so we welcomed him into ours, promising to write him a part.

The next class was to be History. When I walked in the halls, I could see that everyone wanted to ask me a lot of questions. I passed one of the cronies in the hall, and tensed up instinctively. He sneered, and I sadly just walked away. When I got to history, however, everyone bombarded me with questions. I decided to quickly put them to rest and shut everyone up. "Ok, so here is everything you need to know. This is Conner, he's new and in all my classes. Yes, I was attacked. Andy was there, he helped them. I am not feeling that great, so I'll just try to listen as best as I can. The teacher who bandaged me up has first aid training and she said I would be okay by the afternoon except for a few of the small but deep cuts. Now, can we just get back to class?" Everyone shut up at that. Andy got a lot of angry glares, and Mr. Davison wrote something down in what I imagine is the class behavior notes.

Conner offered to take notes for me, since my arms were one of the worst at the time. We quickly went through the lesson, and then through the rest of the day. When I was going through my other classes, all with Conner, everyone in the halls stared. The only ones who actually seemed to care were Cassandra, Conner and Abby. They were at my lunch table and Cassandra told me she had told her other friends to stop staring and be respectful. Conner was there for me throughout the day, which I appreciated, and Abby offered to sacrifice the bullies to Loki. It may have been a little unconventional, but it was the thought that counted.

Soon, the day was over and I returned home. No Zoe this time, so the walk was quiet and uneventful. When I got home, it was a different story. My mother was in Los Angeles with my little brother Liam, filming a pilot for a new Disney series starring him, called Blinding Lights. My father was at work. Therefore, my only company was to be my older brother Cameron. As soon as I walked through the door, I knew it was going to be one of those afternoons. Classical music was blaring as soon as I walked through the door. He was dancing around the kitchen table miming the chants of the battle music he had on, probably something by Two Steps From Hell or something like that. As soon as he saw me, his jaw dropped and he stopped what he was doing to attend to me. I didn't really need attending to, but when he saw the bandage my left arm still needed, he immediately inquired why. "What exactly happened here? Was it any more of those anti-gay guys on the wrestling team?"

My brother, a senior, may have looked like a stereotypical nerd with his slight build, red hair and freckles (and the fact that I was taller than him but two years younger) but he made it his business to know everything about the goings-on at school. I was going to miss him when he went off to UVM next year. He looked even more worried when I nodded my head yes. "Well, then, just go upstairs and rest. I'm sure dad wouldn't mind if you took a day off homework today. Rest as much as you need to." Little did I know he was planning something else that would end up going horribly at first, but end up better than I was before the bashing.

I went up to my room, a little bit happier, but still not at all content. I felt like I was missing something essential, like there was something I had at my fingertips but couldn't grasp it. This bothered me immensely, and I really wanted to know what that was. Disregarding that thought, I went to text Taylor, but my phone died. My brain slowly got the better of me, and I thought, 'Just like my chances at living beyond high school.' That thought stayed with me, and as I recalled the beating and all the insults and how I have been tormented relentlessly ever since the end of October, when I came out to everyone. As I processed the fact that I would probably never get anywhere, or get any attention but bad attention, I began to cry. I ended up crying so much that I didn't hear the door opening. I didn't hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. I didn't hear any of it through my extreme sadness. I did hear it, however, when my bedroom door was opened.

Abby, Conner, Leo, and Becca stepped in hesitantly, and when they saw me sobbing, rushed over to comfort me. Abby's arms wrapped around me in a hug, as she tried to comfort me. Becca soon followed, but the other two seemed hesitant. Leo had a sympathetic expression on his face as he tried to comfort me, but wasn't getting too close. Becca said, "You're ok, Henry. Everything's ok. Hold on, for us." Abby and Leo looked at Conner, and, as they told me later on when we were reminiscing, he had this desperate look in his eyes, like he didn't know what to do but needed to do something. Leo gave him a sympathetic glance, and started to join in. "Dude, it'll be fine. I know it seems bad now, but the school is doing all it can."

I retaliated angrily. "It's not working. They're not doing anything of any use at all. Those anti-bullying days? Any slogans they use are just made fun of in jokes almost immediately after. As soon as I came out, the next day at school someone pulled a Name It Claim It Stop it on me. They said, 'Name it: Your being gay offends me. Claim it: It makes me think you could want me, and I dislike that. Stop it: stop being gay, if you want to be someone in this world.' It hurt me. I didn't understand how to just stop. I lost a good friend because of it." "Who?" Conner said, in a voice that sounded like he was struggling not to sound like he wanted to tear them apart. "I don't want to talk about it" I said through sobs, "maybe when I'm ready or when you figure it out yourself." "Ok." He says, obviously understanding, " but just know that we're all here for you, ok?" "Yeah. Yeah, ok." I was fine with that, but I had convinced myself of everything wrong with me being too much to bear.

Becca noticed that my posture had risen up slightly then fallen, and she quickly decided to do something about it. "What brought all this on, Henry?"

I had been afraid to face that question for weeks. Ever since I got back on , I was bombarded with hate from anonymous people. They told me to shove myself back into the closet, and maybe bring a handy rope along with me. One gave me instructions on how to tie a noose, and the proper positioning for suicide and executions. They had been so bad that I considered committing suicide again. The worst part was that it showed no signs of stopping, no matter who defended me. I had dreamed up about a hundred situations in which to creatively kill myself, each more dramatic than the last. When I got up to "Throw myself into the Atlantic wearing only shorts and lay there facedown" I saw that I was going too far. But it never stopped. It stayed the same, just on a smaller scale. Maybe with the arrival of so many newcomers, I could turn over my own new leaf.

At that moment, my phone dinged with a notification. A new question on had arrived, and since it wasn't 7:00, it was probably another anon. Abby lunged for the phone and got it before I could, reading the question silently, then showing it to the other three. They gasped, and I became ten times more curious. "What happened?" It was obviously not the best question, because Leo, Abby and Becca had this grave look on their faces. Conner, to be honest, looked mostly confused. Then, the sentence I never thought I would hear came from Abby's lips. "We know who the anon is now."


	4. the culprit, the guardian, and the songs

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! I had massive writers block and got really busy and there really is no excuse is there? Anyway, here it is. I hope you like this chapter, since it took me so long to write. **

"The anon is... Alice Ricardo." I groaned, realizing that my November was coming bald to haunt me even more now. Alice was a former friend of mine, one of my few connections to the popular crowd. After our mutual friend Victoria moved away, we grew much closer than we had been before. We had no classes together, but we had a lot of time together thanks to mutual lunches and a mutual free period that we always took advantage of in September and early October.

That all changed the day I came out. Apparently, she had developed a major crush on me and thought I felt the same, but I obviously did not. She had been planning to ask me out on that day, and when I came in with a bright smile on my face and told everyone I was gay that day at lunch, she stood up and ran out crying. I had no idea what was going on, until I talked to Abby. She had been helping Alice with planning how to ask me, and she had gotten fairly elaborate. A musical number of "Call Me Maybe" had been planned, and it was going to end with a short but sweet speech she had written carefully. Too bad the outcome mirrored that of the music video.

Now, however, I was taking on the role of Carly Rae Jepson, while the boy was Conner. He, Abby, and the others eventually left, after about another half hour of conversation. Becca apparently had to practice for her audition the next day, which I promised to see.

When that audition came around, me, Conner, Abby, and Ethan were waiting in the lobby for Becca to come tell us it was time to come in. Then, an old acquaintance of mine who I had just become friends with again this year walked up. Her name was Robin, and she could be kind of protective at times.

She yelled over, "Henry! Hi! Who is this?" She said, pointing to Conner.

"He's my-" I began, and as I gestured to Conner and looked back at Robin, she had this look on her face like she was unimpressed. "We'll be right back, Henry." She said, with a hint of a threat seemingly directed at Conner. Not knowing what was going on, I just watched as she dragged him around the corner. Abby smiled and began a short conversation with me.

"So are you feeling better?"

"Much. Thank you for all the support. It really helped a lot."

"It's okay. And I'm sorry about all this anon business. It even took the author a week to figure out what name to use for her so she wouldn't offend anyone. Oh, and don't even worry about whatever those two are doing over there. You and Conner get together in less than ten chapters, so there is nothing to worry about."

"What?"

"What?" Abby responded.

"Never mind." I said, having, to be honest, forgotten what she had said already.

-The following is one of the few scenes of this story that I was not a witness to. For now, anyway.

Robin dragged Conner around the corner, and pulled him to a stop just out of sight. She immediately shot him a glare, and launched into a tirade.

"Ok listen. If you don't either back off of him, or do something about it soon, I am gonna freak. The sexual tension between you two is killing me! And I've only just met you! Either shut up, walk away, and get over him, or actually tell him how you feel."

Of course, at first he denied it. "Wh-what? No way! Do you honestly believe I have a crush on someone I only met less than a week ago?"

"Yes. It's all there in the body language, the eyes, and the air. Either admit it to him, or just forget about it. He doesn't need a boyfriend who is too chicken to admit his feelings." Conner had not considered that. When he thought about it, it began to make more sense.

"And besides, you seem like each other's best option at the moment. In my personal opinion, he deserves better. But I think he might like you, so I'll let you off with a warning."

Relieved, Conner turned to go back to where I was standing, but Robin grabbed his arm, gave him a death glare, and uttered five simple words that made him terrified of her. "If you ever hurt him..." Conner understood completely, and he had a look of fear and awe in his eyes that made it obvious to Robin. She smirked challengingly, and walked back to where I was still standing, having no idea that this had happened.

-Back to my POV

When they walked back, Becca walked out the door. She beckoned us to slip quietly into the theater. Auditions had started.

After a few very, very bad auditions, mostly for either Elphaba or Glinda, there was one mediocre Fiyero audition, but he forgot his song lyrics near the end. Finally, the good auditions began. First came a guy with jet black hair, for Fiyero. He was somewhat skinny, but still well-defined. He seemed to have this hesitant intelligence about him, and when I saw Conner smile in what looked like encouragement, I can honestly say I was a bit jealous.

That disappeared, however, when Conner leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Tim. From my old school. He's the only reason I could afford to be here." Well then I would have to thank him for that. He launched into a pretty good rendition of the song "Not Over You" by Gavin DeGraw, hitting all the right notes in a way that was insane. He was almost certainly a lock for the role, if the earlier trend continued

This was not the last good audition. The next one, however, would result in more trouble than good in the long run.

The blonde girl from Acting then walked onto the stage. What was her name? Cassie. She was dressed in the black dress common of Elphaba, but shorter. Much, much shorter. She walked with a smugness that fit what Conner had told me about her. Immediately, she launched into an admittedly stellar rendition of "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Funny Girl, singing in the way Rachel sang it from Glee. Except she had a bit more of a Kristen Chenoweth take on it. Wasn't she trying out for Elphaba? She should have tried for Glinda. It would be a far better fit. Either way, she was pretty good.

She smugly walked off once she had finished, giving a little wave to the judges and a wink in our direction.I was starting to dislike this girl. But, dislike aside, she was definitely going to get some sort of part.

Next, Becca walked onstage. This was the moment of truth. "Hi, I'm Becca Rein, and I will be performing "Near To You" by A Fine Frenzy."

Immediately, I perked up, because I knew that she could slay that song. I was absolutely right. As the opening bars began, she utilized a softer side of her voice that would be absolutely necessary for the song "For Good". It was an amazing tune in the original, but it was a major improvement in this situation. The director would be stupid not to cast her as a lead.

Then again, things weren't exactly going the way I wanted lately. I know it's been about a month since I last had those thoughts, but I still realize how pitiful I was. I had so many friends, but I began to believe that I would not be missed. That I would never be loved. I remember how I bitterly hated myself just for being not perfect. I was certain that I would not be missed, and that my future was empty. I was so wrong.

I snapped back to reality as the final chorus was sung.

Near to you

I am healing but it's taking so long

'Cause though he's gone and you are wonderful

It's hard to move on

Yeah I'm better near to you

The last part, at the wonderful high note on "near", she nailed. With that, there was no doubt she would get a part. After the auditions, my group went backstage to congratulate her on her amazing performance, but what we saw there nearly changed that.

The props were in ruin, the costumes on the floor, and Cassie and Becca were in the middle of an epic showdown, pulling hair and flinging insults and scratching and clawing at each other.

Conner and Abby immediately ran in and pulled them off each other. Cassie had fear and rage in her eyes, and she let it out in a yell of anger. "YOU BITCH!" She stormed off, the click of her heels resonating down the halls. I peeked around the curtains, and it seemed as if no one had heard anything that had happened. The four of us quickly cleaned up as much as we could, and left hoping no one would notice. As I walked home alone, since only the auditioning people were left, I felt like someone was watching me.

**Sorry this was so short. I had an amazing idea for a later chapter and had to get that written out, so you guys are in luck. Hope you stuck around. See you next time! Oh, and I will be accepting ideas for things to do with other DC characters in the reviews. So far I had my own idea for Harley Quinn, Oliver Queen, and Superman**


	5. The argument, the trap, and the doom

**Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but now I have another chapter for you all. Enjoy! **

Titan Pride 5

The week after the audition, and everything had lulled into a routine. The showdown backstage had, luckily, not reached the ears of the directors. Conner and I had become comfortable around each other enough for him to be absorbed completely into the group, and even Robin was starting to trust him. At that point, I had no clue why she hadn't trusted him, so that confused me. I was walking home from school with Zoe after saying goodbye to Conner, and she seemed nervous. Naturally, I was concerned, so I tried to help.

"What's wrong? You seem very jittery today."

"I'm fine, I just have a big debate coming up soon for School Senate and my opponent is one of those know-it-all types. Do you know Bart Allen?" She replied.

"Yeah. He's one of the newbies, right?" I seemed to remember him from when Conner was telling me about his fellow San Franciscans. He had talked about how he had memorized an entire library back in Freshman year, and was always spouting facts whenever he got the chance. We had a few of those here too. There was Cassandra, who was probably the smartest person I knew and could out-argue anyone. She was on the debate team and would be on the jury for the School Senate debate. Abby had even joked about setting Bart and Cassandra up once. The first time Conner had heard it, he had immediately thought they meant Cassie, but it was a different person.

"Yeah. I don't know if I can outwit him in this. The argument it whether to keep the cafeteria drinks the same or keep changing them. The O Water has not been very popular, and the fluctuating availability of the seltzer is disconcerting, because that has been one of the more popular drink options. He is arguing for more variety, and I think he has some point there. You will see more details when the debate comes around."

I trusted her, and the walk home was just another nonsensical conversation debating the point of Oklahoma and why narwhals are unicorn whales. It felt comforting to have this sort of talk with her again.

"But wait, wouldn't the unicorns have had to survive completely undetected for years for no one to make any record of them?" Zoe said, continuing the thread of conversation. As always with us, truth didn't really matter. All that mattered was just being us, and not letting anyone judge that. Wow. Looking back, that totally could be a song lyric.

"Pssh, no one actually pays attention to facts anymore. It's all in opinion and what you want to happen. Just ask Sue Sylvester!" I replied.

"You know I don't watch Glee. I'm allergic to happy endings." She said with a deadpan tone.

"I know. Still, it's a solid example." I had been watching the show for a long time, and I knew it inside and out, but no one else I knew did. This was yet another example of my outcast status at that school.

She then seemed to brighten up. "Henry," she asked, "do you know that guy Tim? He's in the musical, and he is kind of cute. I don't know what to do."

This was the most unlike her. I had literally heard nothing about any type of crush she had on anyone until now. I had thought she was just more sensible than the rest of us, but it seems she was simply waiting for the right person. Maybe this was it. I hope so. I wondered what would become of me in these respects. My friendship with Zoe had started and flourished as everyone around us was getting crushes, and flourished under our mutual lack of interest and lack of relationship. Now, she might be off with a boy while I was still simply crushing.

The difference was apparent at school the following week. She had a more social, giggly air about her instead of the cynic I had known for years. As per usual, she hung out with me, Rose, and Megan when she hung out. As soon as Megan heard, she squealed and innocently asked a frenzy of "how"s and "what"s. Rose didn't really care, but she smiled and nodded alongside Megan, since she didn't want to risk upsetting her. Megan and Rose had always been close ever since I had known them. During the math classes the following week, however, whenever Ethan wasn't with Becca he seemed to be looking at Megan. It was a bit worrying.

The next surprise came in English class. As Conner and I were walking to the class, Ido fell into step next to us. He was grinning, but with a look of minor hesitation.

"Hey, guys." He said, with a smirk on his face. "So, Conner, what are you doing for an extracurricular?"

Shit. I had forgotten that those were mandatory. You had to have at least one, or you were kept out of multitudes of student privileges, including voting for officials and use of the library and computer lab. Excessive, I know, but that was the way it was. My extra was that I was on the newspaper, which was a very light commitment, one article every couple of months, due to the large amount of students in the club. Now, Conner needed one, and I didn't think he was the writing type. He'd probably go for football.

After I explained all but the last bit to him, his face scrunched up with obvious distaste. He thought it over for a few minutes. Later on, when we reminisced about the year, he would tell me his decision was because if he was banned from the library and lab, those were two less places he would be able to see me. It would have been sweet, if I'd known.

"I guess I could join the football team. I mean, my cousin Clark found his niche in football, maybe I could do well there, too."

And boom went the dynamite. This wasn't that bad, thinking back, but it was a big deal back then. It felt like he was betraying me, moving towards the athlete clique and away from my group. I was feeling very possessive, and I showed it. Leo would tell me later, when we looked back on the year, that this was the moment he was sure I was going to be happy with Conner.

When we entered the English classroom, and I sat in my usual spot with Kiki and Rebecca, Conner looked hesitant. I didn't want to gesture to him and look too attached, but I of course wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Luckily for my sanity, he chose to sit with us, while Ido sat with Leo and David. The final bell rang, and class started.

Mr Lee walked in, and wrote one word on the board. "Connections". We were in between books at the moment, so we were just writing essays about what words or concepts meant to us. We had already done despair, fire, bliss, clarity, and freedom. He pointed to the word and said, "Alright, class, this is your essay for the week. You are to work with a partner, find a connection between the two of you, and explain in the essay why that connection is important." Hmm, this would be interesting. I hoped I'd get partnered with someone I knew. "Ok, I have pre-picked your partners. Here they are." He said.

To be honest, I zoned out for a bit. But when he said my name, I immediately snapped to attention. He said, "Henry and Conner" and I began an intense staring contest with the floor to avoid jumping up in excitement. This was another chance to get close to him. Another chance to spend time with him. Another chance to see that chiseled body and amazing face that I just could not stop fantasizing about. Another chance to... no. I could never have him, no matter how much I wanted to. He is already drifting away from our clique before I have any chance with him whatsoever. ?.

After, followed a class long discussion about how human connections could be considered as what keeps us human. Mr. Lee made some great points but my mind was elsewhere. I was worried about my safety, Taylor's move, Zoe's crush, and the play. Their Fiyero, Tim, was already busy with gymnastic team practices, due to the fact that they had barely qualified for Regionals, and had to brush up if they were to be prepared. This would set rehearsals back a while, which wasn't good. They still had yet to cast Elphaba and Glinda, due to the musical similarity of the two front runners Becca and Cassie. The "final" callback was today, and maybe afterwards, the play could begin the details, such as costuming.

I decided not to worry so much just in time, because the bell rang. After school, as me and Zoe walked home, she was obsessing about Tim. The same as all the other days since I first heard of her crush on him.

"His voice, it's like if Adam Lambert went full on rocker. Or if Justin Bieber and Janis Joplin had a love child. His hair is somehow perfect and untouched at the same time." She was utterly smitten. It was kind of cute, and kind of nauseating, and she probably thought the same of my feelings for Conner. I mean, we had gotten to the subject because I had began ranting about Conner's eyes. Sure, it had started as a discussion on the tv show Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, but it had immediately become a discussion of crushes after a passing comment about how attractive Agent Ward was.

I then recalled something Zoe had said to me the last time we had walked home together, about a debate. I just had to ask.

"So how did your face-off against Bart go? I'm sorry I never got to see it. Did you win?" She got a triumphant grin on her face, and started to launch into a description about how his argument about diversity had fallen through against her counter about how it would be better to just keep the same drinks stocked at all times. I admit I barely listened, but one thing was echoing in my mind at the time.

Finally, the roller coaster of my life is slowing down. Finally, I can be content.

That feeling did not last long though, because when I got home, there was a note on the counter. It was in dad's messy handwriting, and after about five minutes, I had translated it to say 'Rose Wilson called, gymnastics meet tickets are on sale now. Also, who is Conner? We are going to talk about this.'

Oh no. That would not end well. I just hoped I would survive the inevitable dad talk and that Conner would survive the inevitable talk from my dad. I mean, we weren't dating _yet, _but I hoped it wouldn't be too long. Now I just had to suffer the waiting game. Dad was on the treadmill, it would be another hour before I had to face him. I just hoped it would be over soon.


End file.
